3,358 articles from NOVEMBER 2021

FDA Panel Narrowly Backs a First-of-a-Kind COVID-19 Antiviral Pill Made By Merck

WASHINGTON (AP) — A panel of U.S. health advisers on Tuesday narrowly backed a closely watched COVID-19 pill from Merck, setting the stage for a likely authorization of the first drug that Americans could take at home to treat the coronavirus. A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel voted 13-10 that the drug’s benefits outweigh its risks, including potential birth defects if used...

In children with multiple sclerosis, teriflunomide tempers lesion growth

A phase 3 clinical trial tested the safety and efficacy of teriflunomide, an oral immunomodulatory drug, in children with multiple sclerosis. Although the medication did not prevent disease relapses to a greater extent than placebo, the option for some patients to switch from placebo to teriflunomide before the end of the trial likely biased the results against treatment efficacy. The drug...

Shrinking qubits for quantum computing with atom-thin materials

Current approaches to create superconducting qubits for quantum computers yield chips that are substantially larger than those found in classical computers. To shrink things down, researchers have taken advantage of atomically thin, 2D materials to construct the necessary capacitors for superconducting qubits. Their two-qubit chip is 1,000x smaller than those made with conventional fabrication...

Bringing 400-million-year-old fossilized armored worms to ‘virtual’ life

Scientists have documented the discovery of two new species of fossilized armored worms in Australia -- Lepidocoleus caliburnus and Lepidocoleus shurikenus -- dating from about 400 million years ago. Then, using the micro-CT imaging capabilities of the MU X-ray Microanalysis Core facility, the researchers were able to develop first-of-its-kind digital 3D-models of the species' individual armor...